Who Gets Killed In US Missile Attacks?

The United States military employs unmanned drones which fly over regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan in search of militants. The essential concept in this approach to warfare is that those at a base know where the “militants” are located and thus when missiles strike they supposedly kill the “bad people.” Of course, during the Vietnam war, American military commanders were under pressure to “kill Vietcong” and whomever the local commander said was a “Vietcong,” was one. Perhaps, the same problem is now occurring in Pakistan when drones land on a house. Last week, American military commanders assured the world that drone strikes had killed 22 suspected foreign militants. Local people assert many civilians were also killed in the bombing.

There is growing anger in Afghanistan and Pakistan about these raids.If Vietnam is any model, an approach that relies on air strikes to kill “suspects” will be incorrect a large percent of time. Ground forces are more effective in being able to clearly identify enemy and kill them. The air program is one doomed to create new recruits for the Taliban.